Hi everyone. I'm new here and you might say new to raising chickens. When I was a small youngster we had chickens but they were yard chickens - no coop or run - so much of this is new to me. BTW - that was way more years ago than I want to remember. I have a neighbor who has a coop/ run and chickens so I get a lot of information from him but - I am designing the coop now and it looks like most people put the nesting boxes with an opening to the outside, making picking up the eggs a lot easier. Some of my neighbors chickens lay in the next boxes and some lay in various spots on the floor in the coop. Is this normal? If it is, why go to the effort of building hinged doors from the outside giving access to the nesting boxes? Thanks for the help and I'm sure there will be more coming.
My hens usually lay in their nest boxes but occasionally one will lay in the corner of the coop. Chickens are funny in that they often mimic each other so when one decides to lay somewhere other than the nest box, next thing you know you have several laying in the same spot only because they see the egg there. Just collect them and most likely they will all go back to laying in the nest box the majority of the time. There funny critters.
It's normal [sort of]. Young hens before they figure it out will sometimes lay on the ground. I have on EE hen that will only lay in one nesting box - if another hen is in 'her' box - she'll lay right in front of the coop door. I swear it's like she's telling on the other hen. I have six nesting boxes and about ten hens - plenty of room for all the girls, but well - that EE only wants to lay in one. The main reason I chose a coop with nesting boxes is for cleanliness. I don't like the idea of picking up eggs that have been laying in poop, dirt or anything else. Plus - it's cute to see them all settled in the box and nesting. Just my two cents.... Oh and if you ever want to raise chicks you'll want nesting boxes for them... Good luck - show us pictures when you get it done!
